1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to clamshell packages and more particularly to closures for clamshell packages of the type generally used to hold food products.
2. Description of the Related Art
Clamshell packages of the type generally used to store food are conventional. More specifically, clamshell containers made of cardboard (see DEFINITIONS section) and having tab-and-slot closures for securing the hinged lid in a closed position are conventional. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,205,476 (“Sorenson”) discloses a paperboard clamshell carton including a tab-and-slot closure for openably securing the lid down in the closed position. One of the drawings of Sorenson is reproduced as FIG. 10 of this document. As shown in FIG. 10, the Sorenson carton includes portions 11,12,27,28,29,30,31,52,54. As further shown in FIG. 10, the front panel of the top half of the carton includes two (2) slots or recesses, with the “front” panel being defined as the panel on the side opposite the carton hinge. These slots or recesses respectively engage with tabs that extend from two (2) opposing the side walls of the bottom half of the carton in a direction parallel to the two opposing side walls of the bottom half of the carton. In other words, the tabs in the bottom half extend in the frontwards direction of the Sorenson carton.
It is conventional for paperboard clamshell packages to have punch-in devices that are structures a perforations and fold lines. As two examples, U.S. Pat. No. 5,058,803 (“Gulliver”) and U.S. Pat. No. 7,232,054 (“Yocum 1”) show punch-in devices in the form of toggle action tabs.
Other publication(s) which may be of interest may include: (i) U.S. Pat. No. 5,718,368 (“Rench”); (ii) U.S. Pat. No. 4,964,561 (“Whelan”); (iii) U.S. Pat. No. 5,443,202 (“Jorgensen-Beck”); (iv) U.S. Pat. No. 6,041,997 (“Jensen 1”); (v) U.S. Pat. No. 6,283,364 (“Gray”); (vi) U.S. Pat. No. 5,388,758 (“Scovell”); (vii) U.S. Pat. No. 5,826,781 (“Jensen 2”); (vii) U.S. Pat. No. 7,431,198 (“D'Amato”); (viii) US patent application 2008/0110966 (“Yocum 2”); (ix) US patent application 2007/0012754 (“Stier”); (x) U.S. Pat. No. 5,044,549 (“Beales”); (xi) U.S. Pat. No. 4,877,178 (“Eisman”); and/or (xii) U.S. Pat. No. 6,041,997 (“Jensen 3”).
Description Of the Related Art Section Disclaimer: To the extent that specific publications are discussed above in this Description of the Related Art Section, these discussions should not be taken as an admission that the discussed publications (for example, published patents) are prior art for patent law purposes. For example, some or all of the discussed publications may not be sufficiently early in time, may not reflect subject matter developed early enough in time and/or may not be sufficiently enabling so as to amount to prior art for patent law purposes. To the extent that specific publications are discussed above in this Description of the Related Art Section, they are all hereby incorporated by reference into this document in their respective entirety(ies).